AAA<\/p>\n
Adelaide: Geelong\u2019s Chris Scott has called for coaches not to have to walk through the crowd after quarter breaks after an incident at three-quarter-time of his side\u2019s nail-biting loss to the Crows on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Scott spoke with Adelaide Oval security as he walked out to the Cats\u2019 huddle after fans he later labelled \u201cnuffies\u201d interacted with him with his side trailing by two points.<\/p>\n
![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ef425badbb06df9cf4c25b9eb98924aee85d00d6e40013d8e650d0036a5438e8.jpeg\")
Mark O\u2019Connor (left) and Taylor Walker (right) were involved in an incident with Jordan Dawson and Connor O\u2019Sullivan.AFL Photos<\/p>\n
While Scott said he didn\u2019t say anything to the fans in question, he admitted they had plenty to say to him, adding with a laugh: \u201cOf course \u2026 they\u2019re nuffies, but that\u2019s OK\u201d.<\/p>\n
When asked in his post-match press conference if he thought it was right that coaches had to navigate their way onto the playing surface, through the crowd, Scott said, \u201cThis is one of the best stadiums in the world \u2013 I love it \u2013 [but] no, it\u2019s an oversight that the coaches should have to walk through the crowd. I don\u2019t want to do it at any ground\u201d.<\/p>\n
Almost exactly five years ago<\/a>, at the same ground, Scott made eerily similar comments.<\/p>\n \u201cI tripped on someone\u2019s leg,\u201d Scott said after a match against the Power, which the Cats won.<\/p>\n \u201c[It was a] strange situation given the meticulous way the SA Government has looked after us over the last 24 hours that we\u2019re still walking in that close proximity where people are brushing past us in the crowd.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the most respectful terms possible, when you have a stadium of this quality, renovated, to overlook the fact the coaches have to walk through the crowd is a bit silly.\u201d<\/p>\n Adelaide were left to count the cost of their titanic win on Thursday \u2013 11.9 (75) to 10.14 (74) \u2013 which came with three down on the bench.<\/p>\n They were down to a single rotation for part of a carnage-filled last quarter when Callum Ah Chee, Jordon Butts, Toby Murray and debutant Hugo Hall-Kahan all left the field injured.<\/p>\n Ah Chee, who was superb on star Cats defender Tom Stewart, exited the contest after re-aggravating his troublesome right hamstring and was put on ice early in the final term. That marked his fourth hamstring issue for the season already.<\/p>\n But the hits kept coming.<\/p>\n Butts came off with an apparent calf injury, before Murray and Hall-Kahan smashed into each other in a sickening, bloody collision.<\/p>\n Hall-Kahan, who this time last week was working in retail before being picked up in Tuesday\u2019s mid-season draft, came back to finish the game in a debut he\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n Additionally, Taylor Walker looks set to face the heat of the match review officer.<\/p>\n Walker, who made his way back into the Crows\u2019 senior side through the SANFL, returned at the expense of the suspended Riley Thilthorpe and could face a holiday, himself, after pushing young Cat Connor O\u2019Sullivan into the path of Adelaide skipper Jordan Dawson in the third stanza.<\/p>\n O\u2019Sullivan was uninjured, but the incident drew the ire of Australian Football Hall of Fame legend Jason Dunstall, who was commentating the game for Kayo Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to see \u2018Tex\u2019 Walker suspended because I like watching him playing the game, but if you need to eliminate this act from the game, don\u2019t just worry about the result and whether someone is concussed,\u201d Dunstall said in the post-match.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time someone does this, suspend them. Eliminate that act, otherwise players will roll the dice knowing that if the other player doesn\u2019t get concussed, then you get off.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is danger in that. We have to rub that out and suspend everyone who does it.\u201d<\/p>\n David King, also commenting on Kayo, said at the time of the incident: \u201cThat\u2019s an absolute no-no.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cTex [Walker] is in some bother. There is not a lot in it, but you don\u2019t need to do a lot in that instant.\u201d<\/p>\n Crows coach Matthew Nicks was asked about the incident in his post-match press conference.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will hope there wasn\u2019t much in it, but I can\u2019t comment on it as I haven\u2019t had a good look at it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ah Chee\u2019s prospects of playing the Western Bulldogs next Thursday appear slim given his latest injury, but he was also involved in an incident with Stewart when the Cats star bumped him.<\/p>\n Stewart was upfront about his take on it when interviewed by Seven at half-time.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I got him up the middle,\u201d Stewart said of the incident late in the second quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope I didn\u2019t get him high. My intent was never to get him high.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he bounced back up, so I\u2019m pretty sure I didn\u2019t get him high.\u201d<\/p>\n This game had everything \u2013 injuries, incidents and a huge scrap behind play between Bailey Smith and James Peatling, in which the Cats superstar lost his headband and half his guernsey in the process.<\/p>\n It also featured a first-quarter masterclass from Patrick Dangerfield, who was thrown into the centre square and responded by winding back the clock with a vintage opening term, in which he racked up 13 possessions (10 contested), five clearances and a goal.<\/p>\n The Crows led narrowly at the end of each term and were out by 19 points when the inspirational Dawson brilliantly snaffled a one-on-two mark and nailed a bomb from 55 metres out, his third goal and clearly the most telling.<\/p>\n But with Adelaide\u2019s bench resembling a casualty ward, the Cats charged to the finish line, only to be denied at the death.<\/p>\n Darcy Fogarty\u2019s behind \u2013 overturned to a behind on score review \u2013 at the 27-minute mark was ultimately the difference as a depleted Adelaide hung on by their fingernails.<\/p>\n Ben Keays\u2019 smother of O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s entry, Dan Curtin\u2019s clutch intercept mark and Hall-Kahan\u2019s tackle on the wing epitomised the down-but-not-out Crows\u2019 sheer grit, while an emotional Dawson was shown trying to compose himself soon after the final siren \u2013 no surprise given the year he\u2019s had on a personal level<\/a>.<\/p>\n With Roy Ward<\/p>\n \u2018Back to his best\u2019, Dangerfield winds back the clock<\/p>\n Geelong forward Shaun Mannagh believes Dangerfield still has plenty to offer as an elite AFL midfielder after the Cats skipper wound back the clock with his vintage on-ball display.<\/p>\n Dangerfield, who had played almost exclusively as a forward this season, turned in a masterful performance against Adelaide but couldn\u2019t quite get his side over the line, the Crows prevailing in a thriller.<\/p>\n After attending just 14 centre bounces all season prior to Thursday night, Dangerfield racked up 19 against the Crows after making a shock start in the centre square and attended.<\/p>\n \u201cPatty Dangerfield was back to his best, wasn\u2019t he?\u201d Mannagh said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe set the tone early, and he did that for the whole game.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the best ever in the game in there.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, he\u2019s a bit older and we have to protect [him] more, but in games like tonight, these are his conditions and he\u2019s made a career of it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why he\u2019s one of the best players ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Dangerfield burst out of the blocks with 13 possessions (10 contested) and five clearances in the first quarter. He finished with 30 disposals, seven clearances and a goal in easily his best performance since he dominated last year\u2019s preliminary final against Hawthorn.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been getting into him that he should play more midfield because he\u2019s so good at it,\u201d Mannagh said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe gives us a different look because he\u2019s so powerful.<\/p>\n \u201cHe complements Baz [Smith] and Max [Holmes] in there. I love him in there.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more times we get him in there, the better, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be every week.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott had been conscious to not throw Dangerfield into the fray until he was absolutely ready. \u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a slow build,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s entitled to their opinion, but no one has the access that we have internally to [see] where he\u2019s at.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something that wasn\u2019t really available to us five, six weeks ago, and we\u2019ve been building towards it a little bit more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a matter of setting out a macro plan and sticking to it no matter what. He\u2019s going to have some ebbs and flows.<\/p>\n \u201c[But] he definitely showed he\u2019s still got it, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Hugo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/988585ee07fef1e6fa3c9dbdb2e082d8a8507162.jpeg\")
Hugo Hall-Kahan copped the Gatorade shower in the Adelaide rooms after his first game.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Bailey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8ca543986416ef370b65df80216d5fef5fac2ae8.jpeg\")
Bailey Smith was in the thick of the action all game.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Walker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/de73d96f7f3698d029ed5861bec7f70fa7a01f5f.jpeg\")
Walker in conversation with Matthew Nicks after the game in Adelaide.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Dawson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fdc6eb49f1c620dd4b1dbfacb69226dc5491f3e4.jpeg\")
Dawson stepped up on the big stage yet again for the Crows.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Cats](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9f6d28ee54b0765cad0537f838c28286573618d6.jpeg\")
Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield led from the front in a vintage display.AFL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Dangerfield](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf3724250efc04aaf99a8220addc598876ae4ac3.jpeg\")
Dangerfield leads the Cats off the ground after their one-point loss against his former side.Getty Images<\/p>\n
And he sure was against the Crows.<\/p>\n